LIKE thousands of Welsh hill farmers, Gwynros Jones is facing a terrible dilemma.

FMD movement curbs have left him with several hundred lambs trapped on rented land on Anglesey.

Usually, they would have been moved back to the home farm in the Conwy Valley at Hendre, Dolwyddelan, in early September.

In turn, breeding ewes would be moved off the mountain to fresh grass on Anglesey, where they could be flushed ready for the mating season.

Now the system has broken down. His ewes cannot be moved – as required by the Tir Gofal environment scheme – and his lambs are stranded without a market on grass which is getting scarcer by the day.

Although the situation hasn’t reached crisis point, Mr Jones may yet have to confront the nightmare of culling healthy lambs on welfare grounds.

“I know the markets have reopened but what sort of prices will we be getting and will we be able to shift them?” he said.

“A welfare disposal scheme will help, especially for the smaller lambs. Although £15 isn’t much for lambs worth £30, it’s better than nothing and it will boost the price of heavier lambs by taking the pressure off the market.”

Neighbour Edwin Noble, of Coed Mawr, faces a similar quandary, with 700 lambs trapped on valley fields at Dolwyddelan.

Normally, they would be sold off in the run-up to Christmas, freeing up land for ewes to come off the mountain.

Edwin Noble, NFU Nant Conwy branch chairman, said the 21-day standstill curbs for animals moved on to the farm would bring further problems.

He said: “Cardiff’s decision to allow isolation units will help, but there’s not much point having a new ram locked up when he’s needed out on the fields with the ewes.”